Cooties
by HeavenRose
Summary: Pre-series, two-shot. Apparently cooties are a type of beetle, and eight year old Carlos just ate one. This leads Kendall, James and Logan to believe their friend is poisoned. Chaos and hilarity will result.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story came out at a little more than 9k words, so it will be a two-shot. The next and last chapter will be posted tomorrow.**  
**I think this was a cute idea. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for reading.**

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**Cooties  
****Part One**

"What'd you get?" James asked Kendall.

The blonde boy opened his brown paper bag and reached inside. "Looks like PBJ," he said, eyeing the sandwich in the Ziploc bag. His hand went back in, and pulled out a pudding cup, some carrot sticks, and a bright red apple. The last thing he discovered in his lunch sack was a small note, written on pink paper, that said, 'Have a great day!' Kendall groaned and stuffed his mother's message back into the bag.

"You got pudding?" James exclaimed. He held up a pouch of fruit snacks. "I'll trade you."

"No way!" replied Kendall, moving his pudding away from his friend. "What did your mom pack, Logan?"

The eight year old sitting across the table from Kendall didn't respond. His _Power Rangers_ lunchbox remained untouched.

"Lo-gan," Kendall said in a sing-song voice.

"What?" Logan finally looked up from the sheet of paper that had previously held his attention. "I need to study my spelling words. We have a test after recess."

Kendall ignored him and pointed to his lunchbox. "What did you get?"

With a sigh, Logan flipped the switches on the top of the metal box and turned over the cover. He immediately made a face. "Ugh… egg salad, again." He held up a clear, plastic bag. James and Kendall grimaced at the yellow mush squished between two slices of bread.

"Here," Kendall said sympathetically, handing Logan half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Logan thanked him, tossing the rejected sandwich aside.

"I'm here!" a voice announced. The three boys turned and greeted Carlos, who took a seat next to Logan and across from James, his bright yellow lunchbox in-hand. "Guess what?"

Kendall munched on a carrot stick. "What?"

Carlos grinned. "My dad let me pack my own lunch today," he said proudly. He messily dumped the contents of his lunchbox onto the table. The boys' eyes widened as a cupcake, a container of Tootsie Rolls, a candy bar, and several bags of chips rolled out.

"Cool!" said James. "My mom would never let me eat that."

"Mine wouldn't, either," agreed Kendall.

The boys looked at Logan, who was once again studying his spelling words, oblivious to their conversation.

Carlos snatched the paper out of his hands.

"Hey!" Logan protested. "I need to memorize the bonus word!" Mrs. Melby's second grade spelling list ended with a bonus word, and whichever students could correctly spell it would receive a sticker.

"_Invention_," Carlos read. "That's so stupid. When are we ever gonna need to spell that?"

"Yeah," muttered James, biting into his ham sandwich. "Spelling words are dumb."

"I-N-V-E-N-T-I-O-N," Logan recited, taking the paper back from Carlos. "You're gonna fail your test."

Carlos stuck out his tongue before peeling back the wrapper on his candy bar and taking a big bite.

Logan was about to say something, but changed his mind when he saw James waving at someone from across the school's lunchroom. Two tables away, a little girl waved back.

"Ooh, is that your girlfriend?" Logan teased.

"Ew!" Carlos exclaimed. He twirled around in his seat to get a look at Cindy Smith. "My dad says girls have cooties."

James finally cast his gaze away from Cindy, and turned his attention back to his friends. "What's cooties?"

"I think it's a bug," Kendall said through a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly.

James's eyes widened. "Girls have _bugs_?" He looked to Logan for confirmation.

Logan only shrugged. "I've never seen any bugs on a girl before."

"But my dad's a policeman, so he would know," Carlos insisted. He pointed his candy bar at James. "You're gonna get bugs on you."

James popped a handful of fruit snacks into his mouth. "No I'm not. I'm sure if I ask Cindy nicely, she won't give me any of her cooties."

Carlos, Kendall and Logan snickered at their friend, and the four boys finished their lunch quickly, eager to get outside for recess. They had a daily routine: eat lunch, throw away their trash, go to Carlos's locker, and then enjoy their playtime.

The energetic boy bounced down the hallway to his locker, leaving James, Kendall and Logan trailing behind. He pulled open his locker door and retrieved his helmet. It was something Carlos got teased about a lot, but he never seemed to be bothered by it.

Several months ago in gym class, the students were playing badminton. Unfortunately, Carlos could never hit the birdie. He would swing his racquet and end up twirling in a circle and crashing dizzily to the floor. No one but his three friends wanted him on their team. Then, one day, after the helmet-clad boy backpedaled into a wall while trying to smack the birdie out of the air, the gym teacher approached him.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" she had asked, helping Carlos to his feet.

Carlos patted his helmet and blinked slowly. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Do you need to go to the nurse?"

He shook his head. "No, the nurse doesn't like me very much 'cause I always go there. I'm okay."

The teacher chuckled and let Carlos continue failing at hitting the birdie. However, the following Monday, the boys' homeroom teacher, Mrs. Melby, had a special announcement: Carlos was being transferred to a different gym class.

At first, he didn't know what to think. He didn't want to be away from Kendall, James and Logan, the only kids who would let Carlos be on their badminton teams. But, Carlos's dad always encouraged him to make new friends, so, even though he was a little nervous, he followed Mrs. Melby to the second gym.

He was surprised when he entered. At least twelve kids were in the gym, along with five female teachers. _All_ the kids had helmets on, even the two in wheelchairs.

"Why do I have to play here?" Carlos asked the teacher.

Mrs. Melby put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you like your old gym class, but Ms. Ross thinks this class will be a bit easier for you."

He shrugged at the response, and proceeded to play with the other kids. However, the class turned out to be pretty boring, since most of the kids would throw fits when the teachers wanted them to do something they didn't want to, and the kids that didn't throw fits weren't very good athletes at all. Carlos mostly just awkwardly stood in the corner of the gym for the remainder of class.

When he returned to homeroom, Kendall, James and Logan were eager to know what his new gym class was like. "It was weird," Carlos replied. "But all the kids have helmets." The three boys shrugged. But, when Carlos came home from school that night, he told his dad all about his new gym class when he was asked about his day. Mr. Garcia didn't seem too happy, and Carlos wondered if he did something wrong.

The next morning, Mr. Garcia - or Officer Garcia, as he was known to some - grabbed his son's hand and marched into the main office of the school. Mrs. Melby and the gym teacher, Ms. Ross, were called down to the office as well.

Mr. Garcia demanded to know why his son was placed in a different gym class, to which Ms. Ross replied she thought the class would be simpler for Carlos.

"So because my boy can't hit a birdie, you decide to put him a _special needs_ class?"

Carlos looked up at his father, not really sure what he was talking about.

The teachers' jaws dropped. "You mean he's not…?"

Mr. Garcia's face reddened with anger. He managed to refrain from smashing the two teachers into the wall only because they were women, and because he had finished his second course of sensitivity training the week before.

Countless apologies later, Mrs. Melby finally asked the question everyone was wondering: "Is there a reason why he wears a helmet all the time?"

Response: "How many times have you seen my son hit his head or crash into something? My wife and I can't afford to keep sending him to the emergency room!"

Eventually, Carlos was sent to class. A substitute teacher was assigned to the classroom for the first half of the day. Carlos was allowed to go back into his regular gym class with his friends, and after recess, the students had their regular teacher back.

"How come you get to be in our gym class again?" Logan had asked him.

Carlos shrugged. "I dunno. I think maybe it was because I have a helmet."

The Latino could practically seen the gears turning in Logan's brain. "Oh, you mean they thought you had an unfair advantage when we played games? So they made you play in a class that let you have helmets all the time?"

"I think so," Carlos said. "But my dad got mad, and now I get to stay in your class. And I get to keep my helmet."

So, it was only instinctive that the boys would follow Carlos to his locker, so he could wear his helmet during recess, which, next to gym class, was the most dangerous time of the school day.

It was a warm, spring day in Minnesota. The snow was finally gone, and school would be out in a few weeks. The boys were excited to be third graders. After all, being in second grade was tough.

The school yard where the children attended recess was very large. A blacktop where several groups of kids played four-square or jumped rope was laid right outside the door. Beyond that, the playground, and beyond that, a grassy field dotted with trees. Far to the right was a baseball diamond, where the older kids would form teams and play a competitive game.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Kendall asked, stepping onto the blacktop. Before anyone had a chance to answer, a pig-tailed girl in a flowery pink dress skipped up to James.

"Tag!" Cindy laughed, and began to prance away.

"Ah!" James brushed off his shirt where Cindy had touched him.

The blonde-haired girl stopped and turned around on her heel. "Well? Aren't you gonna chase me?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

Logan, Kendall and Carlos looked at one another, smirking.

"Well…" James uneasily turned to his friends, who nodded. "I can't. I mean, I can, as long as you don't… infest me."

Her expression changed to one of confusion. "Huh? _Infest _you?"

James rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. I don't wanna get cooties."

Cindy cocked her head to the side. "What's a cootie?"

Kendall answered. "They're bugs that girls give to boys."

Cindy rolled her eyes and held out her arms. "But I don't have any bugs on me, see?" James took a cautious step forward, scrutinizing her skin.

"Hmm… Turn around." She complied, and James seemed satisfied. "Okay! Tag, you're it!" He touched her shoulder and then ran away. Cindy laughed and skipped behind him.

"He's done for," Carlos whispered.

Logan and Kendall nodded.

The three boys meandered around the blacktop for several minutes, trying to think of something to do. James and Cindy ran by them a few times, laughing. That gave Kendall an idea.

"Let's have a race!" he suggested.

"Ooh, yeah!" Carlos excitedly bounced on his heels.

"Where to?" asked Logan.

Kendall's eyes scanned the school yard. "We have to run around the bases on the baseball field, then climb across the monkey bars, go down the slide, and touch the tall tree over there." He pointed across the yard.

Carlos slapped his helmet as Logan bent down to tie his shoe.

"Okay, ready?" said Kendall, taking a starting position.

"Wait," said Logan.

"Set…"

"No, wait, I'm not -"

"Go!"

Kendall and Carlos bolted for the baseball field. Logan scrambled to his feet, attempting to follow his friends. Unfortunately, he tripped on his shoelace and fell flat on his face. "Ow," he murmured, removing his shoe all together. He raced after Kendall and Carlos, clutching his left tennis shoe in one hand.

Kendall reached the baseball diamond first, with Carlos closely behind. He touched first base, ignoring the shouts of protest from the fourth and fifth graders occupying the diamond. Then Kendall rounded second, then third, and finally touched home.

The older kids continued to shout at him even as he ran away, heading for the playground equipment. But, to his surprise, Carlos passed him, laughing as he did so. Carlos made it to the monkey bars before his friends. With a big leap, he grabbed the first bar and swung his arms forward. His aim was off, however, and his hand slipped, causing him to drop to the ground.

Kendall let out a "Hah!" and picked up where Carlos left off. Determined, the boy on the ground jumped up, grabbing Kendall by the waist.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Kendall cried as his arms gave out from the added weight. He collapsed to the pebbles below, landing half on top of Carlos, who was already managing to clamber away.

"Cheater!" called Kendall as Carlos hoisted himself up on the playground equipment, forgetting the monkey bars all together. Kendall hurried after him.

Several other kids moved out of the way as Kendall and Carlos brushed past them on their way to the tube slide. Carlos threw himself down headfirst, Kendall immediately following. The boys slid to the bottom, landing in an awkward pile. Kendall stood first, shrieking in laugher, and bolted across the field and to the tree.

Carlos touched the finish too, only half a second behind. Both boys panted hard.

"You tried to cheat," Kendall breathed, putting his hands on his head. He began to pace the ground.

"Yeah, well, you cheated too!" Carlos insisted. "You fell on me when we got off the slide."

"But that doesn't count."

"Yeah, it does."

"Does not."

"Does too."

"Not."

"Too."

Then, Logan appeared, one shoe on his foot, the other in his hand.

"What took you so long?" Kendall said.

Logan touched the tree, nearly out of breath. He plopped down into the grass, wiping off the bottom of his sock. "You guys got a head start," he said, a bit of annoyance in his voice. "I was tying my shoe. And then I ran around the bases, and the older kids threw a bottle at me. So I kicked it back and then they started chasing me, but I lost them over by the swings."

As Logan was explaining his hapless situation, James was spotted jogging over to the three boys.

"Hi, James," the boys greeted their friend.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"We just had a race!" exclaimed Carlos. "Logan got his butt kicked. And got a bottle thrown at him."

James and Kendall laughed, but Logan stuck out his tongue.

"So where's Cindy?" asked Kendall.

James's face suddenly lit up. "That's what I was coming to tell you! Guess what?"

"What?"

James took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. "Me and Cindy are getting married."

"Eww!" the boys cried simultaneously.

"Gross! Why?" wondered Kendall.

James rolled his eyes. "Because we like each other. Duh."

"But if you get married, you'll get her cooties for sure," Carlos told him.

"Cindy doesn't have cooties," James replied.

Logan stood, his shoe finally on his foot and laced up tight. "But you'll still have to get a job to support her."

"No, because I'm gonna be famous and make a billion dollars, and then I won't have to work."

Kendall and Carlos shrugged in agreement at his reasoning.

James had started liking girls earlier on in the year, whereas his friends still thought they were icky. 'Marriage' was a popular trend with the second graders. Of course, to the eight year olds, marriage meant only chasing each other around the playground and possibly holding hands.

Carlos, Logan and Kendall had been told by several female classmates that they have a cute friend. And James sure worked hard at keeping up his appearance, thanks to his father. Everyday he came to school with his brown hair neatly combed, his shoes polished, and wearing nice clothes. But, of all his physical assets, his hair was the one he valued the most.

The summer before second grade, the four boys were at Logan's house. Logan had just gotten a mini gumball machine for his birthday, and was showing it off to his friends. His mother brought the boys a bag of pennies, which when inserted into the machine (that also acted as a bank), would give the boys three small gumballs in return.

The boys were chomping happily on their gum, when the unthinkable happened. James blew a bubble so huge that when it popped, it covered his entire face. Logan and Kendall and Carlos laughed as James attempted to peel off the sticky layer.

He felt a tug, then gasped. The gum was caught in his hair!

"Oh no! Help!" he cried. He yanked on the gum again, but it only made the situation worse. A big, pink wad matted the side of his head. "I can't get it out!"

Kendall, Carlos and Logan each stepped up to try to help pull the gum out, but James's cries of distress told them it wasn't going to give that easily.

"We need scissors," Kendall said.

"What? No!" shrieked James. "I don't want my hair cut." Tears pricked at his eyes.

"Don't worry," assured Carlos. "Once the gum is cut out, you probably won't even be able to tell the difference."

James sniffled. "Really?"

Kendall nodded. "Logan, d'you got scissors?"

"I think there's some in the bathroom."

Being wary of Logan's mother, the boys sneaked out of Logan's bedroom and crossed the hallway. They entered the bathroom and shut the door.

James hopped up on the counter while Logan rifled through a drawer. He handed the scissors to Kendall.

"Okay, so all I gotta do is cut the gum out. That's easy," said Kendall.

James gulped and shut his eyes. Carlos and Logan leaned closer to get a better look.

_Snip snip snip._

Several gum-coated locks of James's hair fell into the sink. James whimpered with every movement of the blades.

"There!" Kendall declared a couple minutes later. He set the scissors down next to the pile of brown hair. He stepped back, admiring his work.

"H-How does it look?" asked James, nervously.

Carlos and Logan flashed him a thumbs-up sign.

Hesitantly, James turned to face the mirror behind him. The hair on the left side of his head was choppily cut, some parts much shorter than the rest.

"I guess it's okay," he admitted, using a hand to smooth it down a bit.

"No one will even notice," said Kendall.

A half an hour later, the boys were back in Logan's room, when there was a knock at the door. Logan's mother entered, wondering why there was a bunch of hair in the bathroom sink. She gasped when she saw James. At first she appeared angry and she scolded the boys for not coming to her in the first place, and for cutting James's hair by themselves. Then she laughed.

When James realized she was laughing because of how funny he looked, he burst into tears. Mrs. Mitchell gave James a hug and told him his mother would most likely bring him to a professional to fix his hair.

The following day, James had sported a short new haircut.

"So, when are you and Cindy gonna get married?" Logan asked.

"We haven't figured it out yet. But you guys can be the best men."

"What's that mean?" said Carlos.

James shrugged. "I dunno. I had to go to my cousin's wedding one time, and he had a bunch of guys standing next to him in matching suits, and they were called the best men. So I think it's your favorite people, or something."

"Oh. Well, then I'll have to tell my parents I need a suit," said Carlos. "I spilled orange juice all over mine and hid it under my bed, so it stained -" He stopped. "Whoa!"

The boys followed Carlos's eyes to the tree trunk. Logan immediately backed away when he saw what his friend was looking at.

"Yuck, what is that?" exclaimed James, squinting his eyes to get a better look.

Carlos picked up a nearby stick. He cautiously approached the creature perched on the bark of the tree.

"It's a beetle," said Logan, still keeping his distance.

"Maybe it's a cootie!" Carlos laughed. He gently poked the body of the beetle with the end of his stick. The bug had a fat body, six legs, and was dark in color.

Due to Carlos's stick, the beetle suddenly fell off the tree and toppled into the grass below. Logan jumped backwards, ducking behind Kendall.

"Cool…" Carlos murmured to himself, getting on his knees to further examine the creature.

Kendall had an idea. "Hey, Carlos, I dare you to eat it."

James laughed, but Logan looked horrified. "Gross, no way! Don't eat that, Carlos. It might be poisonous."

But the boy in the helmet seemed to be considering the dare. "What'll you give me?"

Kendall and James reached into the pockets of their jeans, searching for anything to bet with. Kendall gave Logan a look.

Logan sighed in defeat. "I need new friends." He dug through his pockets as well.

Carlos continued to poke at the beetle as the three boys plopped down on the grass in a circle. Kendall threw his leftover milk money - a dollar and thirty seven cents - an eraser top, and a Jolly Rancher into the middle of the circle. James contributed two rubber bands and a roll of Chapstick, and Logan a broken Matchbox car and a piece of string. He briefly considered putting his spelling list into the pile, but decided against it.

"You gonna do it?" Kendall asked Carlos, eyes sparkling.

Carlos sifted through the items. "I gotta it eat alive?"

"Yeah."

"You're gonna get sick," Logan repeated. "Some bugs are poisonous."

But it was too late. Without further hesitation, Carlos picked the beetle up with two fingers and dropped it into his mouth. _Crunch_.

Kendall and James started laughing. Logan turned completely pale, and he put a hand over his stomach.

Carlos made a face as he chewed the bug. Nonetheless, he swallowed, then opened his mouth to prove it was gone. One of the beetle's legs stuck to his tooth.

Logan gagged.

James and Kendall whooped loudly, and Carlos collected his prizes.

"I didn't think you'd actually do that," James said. "You ate a cootie!"

"It wasn't a cootie, it was a beetle," Logan tried to explain. His mother had taught him a lot about nature.

Carlos licked his lips. "How do you know? You said you've never seen a cootie."

"You haven't seen one either."

Kendall said, "We could ask a girl."

"But not Cindy," added James.

Just then, the recess bell rang, signaling the students had to get back to class. Carlos groaned as he rose to his feet. "My stomach kinda hurts."

Logan became more concerned for his friend. "Oh no! Maybe it _was_ poisoned! You should go to the nurse."

The boys began to walk across the playground and back into the school. "No, the nurse is mean to me," Carlos muttered, stuffing the last of his winnings into his pockets. "She calls me a 'wild child' and says I'll end up in the 'mergency room one day."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "What an idiot."

"I know. I've already been to the 'mergency room lots of times. Psht… Shows how much she knows."

Logan still looked slightly uneasy as the four friends reentered the school and headed to their second grade classroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Huzzah! Part two! Thank you all for reading. I hope you like it.**

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**Part Two**

The following morning, Kendall was sitting at the kitchen table with his two year old sister. He brought a spoonful of cereal to his mouth and took a bite. Mrs. Knight was busy packing his lunch for the day.

"More!" Katie demanded.

Mrs. Knight chuckled as her son groaned. "Katie," said Kendall, "you've eaten more of my cereal than I have." Regardless, he scooped up some Lucky Charms and let his sister eat another spoonful.

"Katie, wait until Kendall goes to school. Then I'll get you your breakfast," said Mrs. Knight, dropping an apple into her son's lunch bag.

Katie shook her head, milk dribbling down her chin. "More."

Kendall ignored her this time, finishing what was left in the bowl by himself. He stood from his chair and put the empty bowl in the sink.

Outside, a horn honked.

"Oh, that's your bus," Mrs. Knight said, quickly folding back the top of the brown paper bag. Kendall grabbed his backpack off the floor and slung it over his shoulders.

"Here you go, sweetheart." Mrs. Knight handed her son his lunch, then kissed the side of his head. "Have a good day."

"Bye, Mom." He headed for the front door.

"Bye," Katie waved.

Kendall waved back, then stepped outside, closing the door tightly behind him. A yellow school bus was parked on the curb. He hopped up the stairs and saw two of his friends seated in the middle of the bus.

Kendall plopped down in the seat in front of Logan and James, who sat together. "Where's Carlos?" Kendall was the last of the four to be picked up in the mornings.

Logan shrugged. "Maybe his dad's giving him a ride." Sometimes Officer Garcia would give his son a lift to school if he needed to get to the station early.

Kendall turned and settled back in his seat, yawning. Logan still wore the 'super speller' sticker he earned yesterday on his shirt. Kendall himself had gotten several words wrong on his spelling test; James did about the same. Carlos had completely bombed it, putting the letter 'w' in the bonus word, 'invention'.

Well, Kendall thought, at least they didn't have any tests today.

He tiredly leaned his head against the window, watching buildings and cars blur by. Unlike last month, the boys were surprisingly quiet as the bus took them to school.

Kendall smirked at the memory.

Logan had found a peashooter and was going to bring it to school. He also brought a small bag of frozen peas that he had taken from his freezer that morning when his mother wasn't looking.

"I can't wait to try it out at recess!" he exclaimed, holding it up for the guys to see.

The eight year olds marveled at what was possibly the coolest thing ever.

"We should try it out right now!" Carlos said, bouncing in his seat.

Logan frowned. "But we can't. One of the bus rules is that you can't throw things."

"Rules are meant to be broken," James said, quoting something he saw on TV.

"The rule is no throwing things," said Kendall. "And shooting peas isn't _throwing_, it's shooting."

Logan's eyes lit up in delight, and he eagerly armed his peashooter. "Okay, where should I aim it?"

Carlos laughed. "Try to hit the bus driver!"

"What? No way! I'll get in trouble."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "It's not like it's gonna go that far, anyway."

"It might," Logan said.

"Then try it!" urged Carlos.

"I don't know…"

Then James called him a chicken and started making 'bwuk-ing' noises.

Finally giving into peer pressure, Logan took a deep breath and blew into the straw. The frozen pea cut through the air like a little green bullet, smacking into its target. The driver cried out, his hand racing to the back of his head. The bus suddenly jerked to the side, sending Carlos and Kendall flying out into the aisle. A few kids screamed.

The vehicle then lurched forward, the deafening crunch of metal-on-metal filling their ears.

When the bus finally stopped, the driver immediately turned around in his seat. "Is everyone okay?"

A few children were crying, but only because the crash had frightened them. Kendall and Carlos moaned as James helped pull them back into their seats. Logan just sat, face ashen, eyes as wide as saucers.

As Kendall craned his neck, he could see that the bus had crashed into a pole.

An ambulance had been called, though no kids were hurt. Police officers arrived on the scene as well, interrogating the bus driver, who claimed something had bit him right before he hit the pole.

Needless to say, Logan had disposed of the peashooter as soon as he could, and the incident was never spoken of again.

The bus finally pulled up the school, and Kendall, James and Logan hopped off. Kendall almost suggested having a race to their lockers, but the last time that happened he had gotten sent to the principal's office. Apparently running in the halls was frowned upon.

The boys walked into the main doors of the school. A rush of air blew James's hair back as he entered, and he used his fingers to carefully move it back in place.

"James, guess what?" Logan said as the three boys started down the corridor of the elementary school.

"Huh?"

"My mom says that you're too little to get married, so I can't come to your wedding." Kendall then realized he had forgotten to inform his mother of the upcoming nuptial.

James's shoulders slumped, and he frowned. "Aw, but didn't you tell her you're one of the best men?"

"Yeah." He didn't elaborate.

The three reached their lockers. Kendall looked around, expecting to see Carlos. He figured his friend was in the classroom already.

Kendall unzipped his backpack and took out his things, then stuffed the backpack into his locker. He, James and Logan entered Mrs. Melby's room at the same time.

The students always arrived before the teacher. Class started at nine o'clock, and that was exactly when Mrs. Melby would get there. Unbeknownst to her, the students had devised a secret watch group. They took turns each day being the look out. Today was Cindy Smith's turn.

Cindy stood at the doorway, eyes fixed down the hall at the teachers' lounge. She smiled at James as he passed her.

Kendall immediately looked to Carlos's desk. It was empty.

Logan must have noticed it too. "Kendall!" he cried. "Carlos really isn't here today!"

Kendall's heart began to beat a little faster. "You don't think that bug was really…"

"POISON!" James shrieked. "Oh no! Carlos must have died from eating the cootie!"

"Died?" Logan shouted, beginning to panic. "I told you! I told you the bug was poisonous!"

"Teacher's coming!" Cindy suddenly cried, abandoning her post at the door.

A boy who was standing on top of his desk immediately hopped down and took a seat. The rest of the students began to find their chairs as well.

Logan and James were both breathing hard when Kendall put his hands on their shoulders. "Don't worry," he assured. "Maybe Carlos got hurt again and is gonna come in late." A couple weeks ago, Carlos had fell out of bed and received a mild concussion before school, and had to be taken to the doctor. He did end up going to school that day, but he arrived after lunch.

James and Logan nodded, the color drained from their faces.

"Right, okay," Logan murmured, trying to convince himself that Kendall was right. "He'll come later. Because he's alive. And not dead."

The boys took their seats right as Mrs. Melby waltzed into the room holding a cup of coffee.

The morning went by agonizingly slow. Logan couldn't concentrate at all when it was time to do math, and ended up saying the wrong answer when the teacher asked him what eighteen plus twenty-two was. James kept tapping his foot and chewing on his pencil. Kendall glanced at the door every minute, looking for Carlos.

When it was finally time for lunch, the boys met up in the hall.

Logan looked on the verge of tears. "How come Carlos hasn't come yet?"

"The cootie killed him," James moaned, sniffling.

"Nuh-uh," Kendall said. "We 'dun even know if the beetle had poison in him."

The boys could practically see a light bulb form over Logan's head. "Then let's go to the library during recess! They have bug books there. We can find out if cooties are poisonous."

Agreeing on the plan, the three friends hurried off to the lunchroom. Logan said he was too scared to eat, but did end up munching on his bologna sandwich anyway. Kendall and James ate their food so fast they barely tasted it.

Only minutes after arriving at the lunchroom, the boys had eaten and were ready to take off to the library.

"I was supposed to push Cindy on the swings today," James said as the boys walked as fast as was allowed down the hall. "I hope she's not mad at me."

Kendall and James had never gone to the library on their own. They only went when the whole class did. Logan, however, knew his way around and directed the two to the non-fiction section. Not many kids were in the library, as most were at lunch or playing outside. Two female librarians sat at the front desk, one talking quietly on the phone and the other typing away on a computer.

"Okay," said Logan, "look for bug books with pictures."

James grabbed the first book he saw: a book about lions. He decided to open it up to a page in the middle. "Woah!" The book fell from his hands and landed on the floor.

"What?" Kendall picked up the book and flipped it over. "Oh, sick! Logan, look at this picture of this lion eating this deer thing! Ew, you can see it's blood and everything."

Logan smacked the book out of Kendall's hands. "I said look for a bug book."

Kendall made a face at him. Logan stuck out his tongue before continuing to search the shelves.

Leaving the lion book on the floor, Kendall and James roamed the aisle of non-fiction books. The didn't have to search long.

"Here!" Logan said. He pulled a medium-sized book off of the shelf. A picture of a big, black beetle was on the cover.

"That doesn't look like the cootie Carlos ate," James commented as the boys made their way to a table. Logan sat in a chair, and Kendall and James hovered over his shoulders.

Logan flipped to the back of the book to the index. "Cootie starts with 'C', right?"

Kendall shrugged. "You're the super speller." He then laughed at his own joke.

"Cootie's never been a spelling word," Logan retorted. He used his finger to scan down the C column. "Hmm… I don't see it in here." He even tried the K column, just to be sure.

"Ask one of those ladies for help," James said, gesturing to the librarians.

"The bug just probably wasn't a cootie," Kendall told him. "Logan, just look at the pictures and we'll see what one looks like the bug Carlos ate."

So, Logan started at the beginning of the book. He overlooked all the beetles that had any color on them, because the one Carlos ate was all black.

"This one?" He held up the book for his friends to see.

"No," said Kendall, "Carlos didn't eat a bug with giant claw things like that."

Logan continued paging through the book. It was about five minutes later when he found a bug that looked almost exactly like the one Carlos snacked on.

"What's it called?" asked James, eyeing the picture carefully.

"A bark beetle." Logan tapped the picture with his finger. "Not a cootie."

"It could still be a cootie," James said. "Maybe cootie is it's… scientific name or something."

"Does it say if it's poisonous?" Kendall asked eagerly.

Logan's eyes scanned the small section of text on the bark beetle. He shook his head, then read it again, just to make sure. "No."

James and Kendall slumped their shoulders.

"This is bad." Logan shut the book and shoved it away. He pressed his forehead to the table.

"It's Kendall's fault!" James suddenly accused, pointing his finger at his blonde-haired friend. "You dared Carlos to eat it!"

Kendall held out his hands in defense. "Hey, you bet him some Chapstick and rubber bands!"

"But it was your idea!" He lowered his voice. "You pressured me."

"You didn't have to do it, though."

"I couldn't help it! It was pear pressure."

"You mean peer pressure?" Logan spoke up.

"Yeah." James snapped his fingers. "You peer pressured me."

Kendall groaned. "Guys, don't freak out. When you get home today ask your parents if you can come to my house. Then we can call Carlos's house. Maybe he just has a cold or something."

The two boys nodded solemnly.

* * *

After the longest day of school in his life, Kendall finally arrived home. His mother greeted him, though she was a bit preoccupied with Katie, who was fussing about something or other.

"You need a nap," Mrs. Knight muttered, scooping her daughter up into her arms. She then turned to her son. "How was school today?"

Kendall let his backpack slowly fall to the floor, then carefully removed his shoes. He looked up, standing like a statue in the doorway, his hands behind his back. "Fine."

Mrs. Knight eyed him suspiciously. "You didn't get in trouble, did you?"

Kendall shook his head. "No."

"Kendall, you better not being lying to me. You know I always find out, and when I do, you get into ten times more trouble than if you would have been straight with me," she warned over Katie's wails.

"I didn't get into trouble, Mom. I really didn't."

Mrs. Knight continued to gently rub the back of her screeching two-year-old. "Well, come away from the door. Why are you just standing there like that?"

Kendall took a few steps forward. "Mom, Logan and James are gonna come here soon, okay?"

"Alright, that's fine." She walked over to her son. "Here, you take your sister for a minute while I get some snacks ready."

Kendall frowned as he accepted Katie. "Why is she whining?"

"Oh, she's just grouchy because she's tired. I'll put her down for a nap in a few minutes."

Kendall plopped down on the couch with baby Katie in his lap as his mother strode into the kitchen. He grabbed the remote on the coffee table and flipped on the TV.

He couldn't shake Carlos from his mind. What if Logan was right? What if the bug _was_ poisonous? What if Carlos really did die? He was so stupid! Logan was the smart one, after all. If he thought the bug was poisoned, then Kendall should have listened.

His thoughts were interrupted when Katie tugged on his shirt. He jumped, then emitted a small sigh of relief when he realized his sister just wanted some attention.

Kendall pointed at the TV. "Look, Katie, it's your favorite show." The brown-haired little girl turned her attention to the cartoon on the screen, her whining immediately ceasing. She just started to snuggle into her brother's lap when Mrs. Knight reentered the room.

"I set a plate of chocolate chip cookies and some glasses of milk on the table for you boys. You said just James and Logan were coming over, right? Where's Carlos?"

At the sound of Carlos's name, Kendall jumped again, his heart racing. He held onto Katie so she didn't fall to the floor.

Mrs. Knight raised her eyebrows.

"I-I dunno. He wasn't at s-school today," Kendall stammered.

Mrs. Knight sat down on the couch next to her son. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "Sweetheart, are you feeling alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine, Mom," Kendall replied quickly. He put his arms under Katie's and handed her to his mother. The movement upset the cranky two-year-old, and she began to whimper again.

Kendall stood right as the doorbell rang. "That was fast," he murmured to himself, walking quickly across the room to the front door.

"Hi," Logan greeted weakly. James held up his hand in a small wave.

"Come on in, boys," Mrs. Knight called from the couch. Kendall stepped aside to let his friends enter. The two boys politely removed their shoes in the doorway.

"Hi, Mrs. Knight," Logan and James said in unison.

"Hi," she greeted the eight-year-olds, smiling. "How are you doing?"

"Good," the boys replied.

"That's good. Kendall, why don't you -"

"I know, Mom, snacks in the kitchen. Right." Kendall practically ran into the said room.

James and Logan looked at each other before trotting off after their friend, leaving Mrs. Knight and Katie alone in the living room.

"Can't we call Carlos's house first?" Logan whispered to Kendall as the boys entered the kitchen.

"No, we have to eat something first or my mom'll get 'spicious." He pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table, reaching for a cookie. "I'm hungry anyway."

James also grabbed a cookie. "Your mom's nice," he said.

"Yeah," agreed Logan, sitting across from Kendall. "My mom doesn't like it when I eat cookies. She says I get a sugar rush and then I get myself into trouble."

The three boys gobbled down two cookies each, then guzzled a glass of milk in record time. Chocolate still covered their faces as they bounded up the stairs to Kendall's bedroom. Kendal snatched the cordless phone from the hall on his way up after making sure his mother was no where in sight.

James and Logan plunked down on the bed as Kendall shut his bedroom door.

"This is scary," murmured Logan, nervously wringing his hands together.

"Dial! Dial!" James urged.

Kendall quickly punched in Carlos's phone number. It was absolute silence as Logan and James studied Kendall's face.

The phone rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Kendall's heartbeat quickened with every passing ring. After six rings, the answering machine picked up. Kendall hung up the phone.

"No one's home…" he said quietly.

James and Logan sat frozen, their expressions unchanging.

"Uh… Guys?" Kendall waved his hand in front of their faces.

Logan suddenly burst into tears. "HE'S DEAD!" he cried.

"Shh!" Kendall hissed, nervously looking to the door. "My mom will hear us and come up here!"

"HE'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD!" Logan chanted, tears steadily falling down his face.

"Logan!" James shouted. "Shut up!" He reached for Kendall's pillow, then smothered it in Logan's face. Logan thrashed his arms and legs, but James got on top of him, pinning the boy down.

Kendall groaned, stepping forward to break up the scuffle. He pried James off of Logan, still screaming and sniveling, and tossed the pillow aside. He firmly grabbed Logan's shoulders. "Logan, you have to shut up! Look, the phone call doesn't prove anything. Maybe the Garcias were outside and didn't hear it ring, or something." Kendall knew he was trying to convince himself more than his friend.

Logan wiped his eyes and nose, still breathing hard.

Kendall reached over to his bedside table and handed Logan a tissue. "You guys rode bike over here, right?"

"Yeah," answered James.

"Then let's go to Carlos's house."

The boys had to wait for Logan's tears to dry before they left the room, or else Mrs. Knight would have noticed and peppered them with questions. They barreled down the stairs and to the living room, where Mrs. Knight still remained, rocking Katie in her arms and humming softly.

"Mom, we're going to Carlos's house," Kendall whispered loudly. James and Logan were already out the door.

"Wait, hold on a second," she whispered back. Kendall stopped dead in his tracks. "I thought you said he wasn't in school today."

"I did. He wasn't." Kendall shifted his weight back and fourth on his heels. "We need to make sure he didn't die."

Mrs. Knight chuckled lightly. "Sweetie, if Carlos is out sick today, you need to leave him alone so he can get better."

"But Moooom," Kendall whined, "we _have_ to! Please? We'll only be there for a few minutes, I promise."

Mrs. Knight gave him a look, then paused, mulling the situation over. Kendall was antsy, and started to gradually creep towards the door.

"Alright, fine," Mrs. Knight said. "But call me when you get there, so I know you didn't get hit by a car or get kidnapped. And make sure you cover your face and don't stand too close to Carlos. I don't need you getting sick."

"Okay, I will. Thanks, Mom," Kendall called, bolting for the door. He sprinted to the garage and grabbed his bicycle and helmet. James and Logan already had their bikes and were waiting in the driveway.

The bike ride to Carlos's house was short, as he lived in the neighborhood. The boys rode on the sidewalk in a single file line, Kendall leading and Logan in the back. They had only to cross one street, and they did it with ease, looking both ways for cars like their parents had taught them.

Their bikes screeched to a halt when they came to Carlos's house. It was dark; the blinds pulled, no cars in the driveway, and the front door closed.

Logan shivered and huddled a little closer to James, who looked pretty scared himself.

"Should we go ring the door bell?" Kendall asked his friends, also feeling uneasy.

"Uh… you can," said James, eyeing the house like it was haunted.

All three boys gasped when the front door opened and a stranger stepped out. He was a portly man, with a bushy grey beard and thick, hairy eyebrows. He tightly shut the door behind him, making sure it was locked.

Kendall, James and Logan stared at the man, mouths open and eyes wide.

"Hello," the stranger greeted when he noticed them.

Kendall took a cautious step backwards. His mother always warned him about talking to strangers.

"Are you a burglar?" James blurted out.

The man laughed. Logan ducked behind Kendall.

"No, no," he said. "I'm Stan Hickley. I live next door. I'm watching the Garcias' dog while they're away." He put the key in his pocket and descended the two front steps. "Are you friends with the little fella?"

"…We're Carlos's friends," replied James.

"Where is he?" demanded Kendall, forgetting about his mother's warnings.

Stan scratched his beard. "I believe they told me they were at a funeral," he said. "But they should be back tomorrow -"

"AHHHH!" screamed Kendall, James and Logan. The boys quickly mounted their bikes and peddled away as fast as they could, leaving the dumbstruck neighbor standing alone in the front of the house.

When they reached home, they threw their bikes onto the lawn and scrambled up the front steps. The boys burst through the front door, noting that Mrs. Knight was no where in sight, and raced up the stairs. Kendall slammed his bedroom door shut, and all three boys nervously paced the room.

Logan had started crying again. "W-We have to call nine-one-one!"

Tears welled up in James's eyes also. "No! We can't! We'll go to jail!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" screamed Logan. "We dared Carlos to eat the beetle-cootie-thing that I told you was poisonous but you didn't listen and now he's dead!" His breathing was coming in short gasps and his teary eyes darted all across the room.

"But there's so many things in life I haven't gotten to do!" shrieked James. "I haven't become famous, or married Cindy, or bought a pet snake, or been to the north pole, or anything!" He snapped his fingers together. "We need to flee town."

"But I don't wanna run away!" sobbed Logan.

The two then looked at Kendall, who was strangely quiet. "Kendall, what should we do?" asked James, wiping at his eyes.

Kendall looked back and fourth between his two friends. Finally, he began to wail. "I don't know!"

All three boys were crying loudly when Mrs. Knight heard the noise and yanked open the door. She had just put Katie to sleep and didn't want to have to do it all over again. "What is going on up here?" she demanded. "Kendall, I told you to call -" She stopped when she saw the sobbing little boys in front of her. "Oh, sweethearts, what's wrong?" She bent down to their level and enveloped Kendall, James and Logan in a group hug. When she pulled away, she handed each boy a Kleenex.

"What's the matter?" she asked again, her voice soft and soothing.

"WE KILLED CARLOS!" Logan blurted, continuing to sob hysterically.

Mrs. Knight blinked. "You… what?"

Kendall sniffled. "Yesterday at school we m-made Carlos eat a cootie."

"And today he never showed up so we think it was poisonous," James continued.

"So we called his house and no one answered, so we went there and no one was home except for Stan."

Mrs. Knight wrinkled her brow in confusion.

"And," Kendall blubbered, "we weren't even invited to his_ funeral_!"

The three boys cried some more, using their tissues to wipe their eyes and blow their noses.

Mrs. Knight turned away. Her shoulders quivered from repressed laughter. Kendall, however, misinterpreted her body language. He put a hand on her back. "Don't cry, Mom. It's okay. We'll turn ourselves in."

She turned back to the boys and hugged them all again, fighting away her smile. "Hang on, honey. I want you to explain this to me again." The boys seemed a bit more calm as she let go. "You made Carlos eat a _cootie_?"

"I _told _them it might be poisonous!" Logan cried.

James smacked his arm.

"Yeah," Kendall told his mother. "It was a possibly a bark beetle thing stuck to a tree, but me and James think it was a cootie because Carlos's dad says girls have them, and that bug was probably left there by one."

Mrs. Knight nodded slowly. "And why do you think it was poisonous?"

James and Kendall looked at Logan, who blushed. "Well, my mom says some bugs have poison in them…"

Kendall's mother nodded again. "And who is Stan?"

"The neighbor," murmured James. "He told us that Carlos's family was at his funeral."

"_His_ funeral, or _a_ funeral?"

"A."

Mrs. Knight chuckled, handing the boys three more tissues. "Boys, it sounds to me like the Garcias are just out of town."

The three friends exchanged glances. "Out of town?" echoed Kendall.

"Mmm-hmm. I guarantee Carlos is just fine. I highly doubt any bugs around here are poisonous. But you should never have dared him to eat one. So the next time you see him, I want you to apologize, okay?"

It took ten more minutes of convincing, two more group hugs, and six more tissues, but eventually the boys believed Kendall's mother. When all their tears were gone, she led the boys downstairs and let them have some more cookies and milk.

Supper time came quickly, and James and Logan rode their bikes back home, feeling a little better after Mrs. Knight's talk.

* * *

When Kendall got on the school bus the next morning, he was shocked to see only James and Logan. His mother did tell him Carlos might be out of town for a few days, but he still had high hopes for seeing his friend.

He sat in the seat across from Logan and James.

"I think your mom was just trying to make us feel better," muttered Logan.

Kendall didn't say anything. Worry crept back into him. His mother wouldn't lie to him, would she?

The bus ride to school was silent. Even the short walk to the main doors was quiet. Except, that is, when pig-tailed girl was spotted waiting by the door.

"There you are!" Cindy said to James, her hands on her hips.

"Hi," James murmured, still thinking about Carlos.

"You were _supposed_ to push me on the swings yesterday," she said, angrily tapping her foot.

"I'm sorry, Cindy. I had something else I had to -"

"James Diamond, we're through!" interrupted Cindy. She turned sharply on her heel and stormed off down the hall.

James stared at her back as she stomped away. Kendall put a hand on his shoulder. "Cindy was weird anyway."

Shrugging, James followed Kendall and Logan into the school. The boys dragged their feet on their way to their lockers. Nothing would ever seem right again without Carlos. Especially if they were the ones that caused his demise. What would they do? Run away, like James wanted? Turn themselves in, like Logan suggested? Carlos's dad was a police officer. What if he found a way to -

"Hi, guys."

The boys' heads snapped up as they were greeted by a familiar voice.

"CARLOS!" they shouted simultaneously.

Carlos started to say something else, but was tackled by his three friends. He landed hard on the floor, dropping his backpack.

"We thought you died!" James shrieked happily.

"We thought the cootie killed you!" exclaimed Logan.

"And we thought we missed your funeral!" Kendall added.

Carlos gasped. "Can't… breathe…"

"Oh, right," said Kendall. The boys picked themselves off their friend and helped him to his feet, ignoring the strange looks they got from other students passing by.

"Where were you yesterday?" Logan demanded to know.

Carlos straightened the collar of his shirt. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. I had to go to a funeral. My great uncle's step-mom died, or something." He narrowed his eyes at his grinning friends. "You thought _I_ died?"

"Yeah," James said, "because you ate the cootie." He used his fingers to straighten his hair, which had become disheveled when he was on top of Carlos.

"Oh," said Carlos. "Well, I'm alive."

"Well, why weren't you on the bus just now?" asked Logan.

Carlos smirked. "My dad gave me a ride in his police car."

Logan's smile broadened. "Well, I'm glad you're alive!"

James and Kendall nodded vigorously. "Very glad!"

There was a small pause. Carlos still looked slightly confused.

Kendall looked around. "Should we go to class?"

The boys all nodded and started towards Mrs. Melby's room. Kendall, James and Logan were giddy with happiness and relief.

"Oooh!" Carlos suddenly said, approaching something pink stuck to the wall. "Gum!" He peeled it off and plopped it in his mouth.

"NOOOO!" shouted the three boys. Logan smacked Carlos's back as hard as he could before James dove through the air, tackling Carlos to the floor for the second time.

Carlos sputtered and coughed as Kendall started to scream. "SPIT IT OUT! CARLOS, SPIT IT OUT RIGHT NOW!"

He didn't even have a chance. Logan fearlessly shoved his hand into Carlos's mouth and retrieved the piece of pre-chewed gum. He whipped at as hard as he could across the hall.

Logan wiped his hands on his jeans, then helped James to his feet, leaving Carlos sprawled out and dazed on the floor.

"Alright," Kendall said. "_Now_ let's go to class." The boys practically skipped into the classroom, thankful that their best friend was okay.

**The End**


End file.
